Weekly Update – September 11, 2022

Holiday Schedule Requests

The holiday season is approaching quickly so it is time to begin making the schedule. Each resident will be given ≥3 days off for one of the following holidays: 

1. Thanksgiving 
2. Christmas 
3. New Year’s Eve / Day

We will attempt to grant everyone their first or second choice off. 

– Deadline for submitting the above 2-question form is noon on Monday, September 12th 

– If you prefer a stretch of days off that does not correspond with the above holidays, let us know in the comments box and we’ll do our best 

– Usual duty hour rules apply 

– Please remember if you are on tox/vacation/elective/etc., this will likely count as your holiday off. 

– Unfortunately, we do not have control over off-service schedules. If you want a particular holiday off and you are off-service, please send a request to the appropriate off-service chiefs.

–Seniors will likely be given 2 holidays off 

 Please submit the following form indicating your preferences: https://forms.gle/LiYJcjiM4BvvpvLG8

Polio Update from Cornell

It’s been reported in multiple news outlets and the NYS DOH today (a few links here and here) that Polio has been detected in NYC wastewater, indicating it is circulating in the city. This is in the context of a man in Rockland County diagnosed three weeks ago and left paralyzed. This is the first case in the US since 2013, and the assumption is that it was locally acquired and not from travel.  There’s been a rise in calls and questions primarily to outpatient clinics about Polio and vaccination.  Most adults have been fully vaccinated (99%+ protective) but may not remember or have proof. Children are more vulnerable, particularly <6 months old. In NYC, the vaccination rate for children <5 yrs old is 86% and in some city zip codes, <66% of children are vaccinated.  1 in 200 infections lead to paralytic polio, so we have to assume that there are infections out there but at the moment it isn’t clear whether it rises to the level of needing to provide boosters. There is a booster that can be recommended for those at high risk which is usually reserved for travelers.  If patients inquire about a polio booster, there’s no real reason not to do it and we can simply refer to outpatient PCP/ID. ID and the hospital are following closely – more to come with any developments.  

Survey for Dr Shah: 

Looking to get some data responses to our Medical Reference Utilization survey from residents (not just EM).  Please fill out / send to any contacts you have in other departments and around the country!

https://weillcornell.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3L8B1vqwkbRRjaS

Campus Announcements

Dart Room Checklist Project  We are pleased to announce a new Quality Improvement project regarding supplies in the DART room. We have developed a checklist based on YOUR survey results regarding needed items in the DART room. We are asking PGY3 residents to check the DART room using the checklist once in the morning (before/after morning report) and once in the evening (approximately midnight). This list will then be given to the charge nurse who will be the one responsible for replacing the missed items, NOT THE RESIDENT.  We hope this will lead to improved quality and patient safety as well as more smoothly run (and less frustrating) notifications. If you have any questions or comments–please reach out to Mary-Kate Gorlick, Mike Defillipo and/or Shriman Balasubramanian. Check out the checklist here!

Medical Student Mentorship Opportunity 

See message below from Spencer Dunleavy (Equity/Justice Fellow at Columbia)

I wanted to reach out to you to see if you could help recruit EM residents to potentially mentor students.

The goal is to create a database of resident mentors of all backgrounds across all residency programs at NYP-Columbia to help guide medical students from traditionally less supported backgrounds (with respect to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic upbringing, gender, and sexuality) toward the specialties they wish to pursue. As someone who came from a background where no one in my family had gone to university, I know it has been very challenging to find people with similar experiences to help me on my path through medical school. Our hope is that we can create a sustainable system for students of varying backgrounds to help find role models and mentors.

Would you be able to help us recruit residents in your program? A sign up form for residents can be accessed here. I would be happy to discuss further with you if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Monkeypox Update 

Cases of monkeypox continue to rise across New York State and the region overall, but may be starting to slow down a bit in NYC. We had around 50 confirmed cases last week at NYP and many have been initiated on outpatient treatment. CIMA and the ED are still seeing “sporadic” cases, and are hoping we’ve plateaued.  There has been only one suspected peds case that pediatric ID is following of a 9 month-old (coinfected with VZV, unknown exposure, mom noticed spots while traveling in Morocco).  ID Clinic now has a small supply of vaccine for PEP available in the outpatient setting for high risk scenarios.  Treatment is considered for complicated for severe disease. Lesion location or type is often the important one due to scarring or stricture (i.e. eyes, mouth, rectum, urethra). See table below for details. A couple of important ED workflow updates to be aware of that will make things a little easier (Thank you Jean for the Epic tweaks!): 1. Monkeypox Discharge Instructions are now available in Epic!  2. Ambulatory Referral to Infectious Disease is now easily orderable from the Dispo tab for adult patients at WC or LMH for stable monkeypox patients for follow up and consideration of treatment. Please mark it Urgent. Dedicated schedulers from ID will reach out to the patient and arrange for rapid (often next day) VUC visit with ID for next steps, follow up on results, and potential treatment or vaccination questions. This is already live and working nicely. This should obviate the need for most ID consults unless there are clinical management questions that need to be addressed urgently or the patient needs to be admitted.     The Infonet page continues to have the most up-to-date clinical guidance. Please review this frequently asked questions (FAQs) document, which has detailed answers to common questions about MP and NYP’s response.  Thanks for your attention to the many evolving updates and your care of these patients! More to come, and as always please let us know if any questions.  -ED Leadership 

PGY1 EMS Rotation

Before the start of your EMS rotation, please review workflow which is available here- info here: https://sites.google.com/view/nyp-ems-practice-track/pgy-1-nypems-rotation

Reach out to Dr Lech with any issues!

Walk-out Notes

If any of the following notes have been filed in the patient’s chart, and “Left Before Medical Screening Exam” is selected for “ED Disposition,” then an interruptive BPA will appear that asks the user to review the chart and select “Left After Medical Screening Exam” instead.

o   MSE Note

o   ED Provider Note

o   Psych Brief Eval Note

o   Psych Initial Evaluation Note

Lung Nodule Follow-up

Please review the Lung Nodule Follow-up work follow on Nexus when discharging patients from Cornell.  https://nexus.weill.cornell.edu/display/ED/WCMC+ED+Nexus+Site

Online Resuscitation Course At Upenn

Please see below for information to register for a resuscitation course taught by grand rounds speaker Dr Abella from UPenn

https://pennmedonline.upenn.edu/virtualfall/

Conference 9/14

Join Zoom Meeting
https://nyph.zoom.us/j/96149193653?pwd=WVlBMFd1TllVOFJHemlEV3AzdDhaZz09

Shout out to Gabby, Amy,  Victoria, and Denise repping NYPEM at the Diversity Center for Excellence “Make Your Match” event for URIM 4th years medical students!

Chief On Call

William Haussner, M.D.  

EM Chiefs’ Cell:  917-410-1056

Please call and do not text/ email so we can address issues promptly.
If you do not hear back within 10 minutes, then call any of the other chiefs.